Welcome

Welcome to the POZ/AIDSmeds Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and
others concerned about HIV/AIDS. Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the
conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning: Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive
and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a
username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own
physician.

All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators
of these forums. Click here for “Am I Infected?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ/AIDSmeds community forums.

We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please
provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are
true and correct to their knowledge.

I also don't believe it is possible to know for sure. I tested possitive in October of 1985. This, I know for fact. In September of 2003 I had a viral load 500,000 and 16 t-cells. This I also know for fact. Our bodies are going to handle this virus differently.

I tested pos in Dec '93 and back then they didn't do VL tests. I am sure I sero-converted no earlier than Spring '92 at the earliest. My CD4 was around 1050 at diagnosis. About two years later, in late '95 I had dropped to 396 and the doc suggested I start AZT.

it is definitely possible to know and they even have a test to tell you how long you were infected but only at research universities and it can only tell you the months upto 18 months and the years over or under a few years

you could be anywhere from 3 to 9 years is my best guess100 t cells a year lost is average

how old are youwhen were you most active sexually

it cannot be more than 12 years and it would be one in a million for less than 1 or 2 years

it is definitely possible to know and they even have a test to tell you how long you were infected but only at research universities and it can only tell you the months upto 18 months and the years over or under a few years

you could be anywhere from 3 to 9 years is my best guess100 t cells a year lost is average

how old are youwhen were you most active sexually

it cannot be more than 12 years and it would be one in a million for less than 1 or 2 years

Bim,

As has already been stated, it isn't possible to "know" with any certainty as everyone's body handles the virus differently. What you have provided is a guestimate - at best.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

it is definitely possible to know and they even have a test to tell you how long you were infected but only at research universities and it can only tell you the months upto 18 months and the years over or under a few years

you could be anywhere from 3 to 9 years is my best guess100 t cells a year lost is average

how old are youwhen were you most active sexually

it cannot be more than 12 years and it would be one in a million for less than 1 or 2 years

Do you care to elaborate on what that test is ?

And about the one in a million ... My bf tested neg in 5/2006. I have his results in writing from Planned parenthood.

Then, in 11/2006 he tested poz right after I did. His VL was only 4000, and CD4 300, and CD4 13% . The low % (<14) meant he had an AIDS diagnosis right from the start per the CDC definition. That's only 6 months between his last neg test and AIDS diagnosis.

By 1/2007 his CD4 were down to 240, CD4 9%, and VL up to 30,000 . AIDS and progressing.

He was started on HAART in 3/2007. The health dept doc didn't do another test before starting so we don't know how low he went. His VL has been undectable since 5/2007, but his CD4 have been all over the place. 200 one month, 400 the next, then 250 ... Very weird.

I spoke to several people in my support group at Kaiser about this. One said they also said they lost most of their t-cells within one year of infection. I have no idea how often this happens, but I think just this anecdotal evidence is sufficient to prove that it happens a little bit more frequently than one in a million.

madbrain, I would say his first negative test was incorrect. Never have I heard of anyone being negative and in 6 months time have an AIDS diagnoses. Unless he was immunosupressed due to some other cause.

madbrain, I would say his first negative test was incorrect. Never have I heard of anyone being negative and in 6 months time have an AIDS diagnoses. Unless he was immunosupressed due to some other cause.

I have thought this might be the case about his first test being incorrect. I don't have any way to prove it. What are the odds of that happening ?

The initial VL he got of 4000 is not inconsistent with a recent infection. I had my last neg test and poz test around the same time that he did, and my initial VL came in even lower, at 698. Our HIV genotypes turned out the same, so we definitely infected each other. But it's impossible to tell who got it first.

There is no other previous cause of immunosuppression for him that I know of. He is a very healthy guy, much more so than I am. He was already going to the gym daily, eating a good diet, never did any drugs, not even alcohol, before his HIV diagnosis. He had not gotten sick in years. So the poz and AIDS diagnosis was a complete surprise for him.

I also disagree with the 'one in a million that it could have happened between 1 to 2 yrs'.

Not only has that happened to many of my patients, for it happened to me.

In a period of almost two years I went from CD4 of 458 / VL 92700 to a CD4 of 186 / VL 198000.

Aside from having high blood pressure (way before I sero-converted) I was completely healthy during all that time not even catching a flu. Actually I felt so good that I didn't see my doctor during those entire two years, and the only reason I was started on meds was because me CD4 count was under 300 and not because I was feeling sick.

As many have already expressed, and one of the reasons this damn virus is so hard to pin-down, is because we all react differently to it. There are no 'written in stone' given general certainties when it comes to HIV.

Logged

Psychologist, PhDCounseling patients with HIV since Jan 1991HIV since Dec 2005There are three parts to any successful relationship (platonic or romantic): trust, honesty and communication